One man refrigerant cylinder handling truck



ONE MAN REFRIGERANT CYLINDER HANDLING TRUCK Filed Oct. 11, 1957 Oct. 27,1959 c. L. CAYLOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHARLES L. CAYLOR Wm mATTORNEYS,

United States Patent ONE MAN REFRIGERANT CYLlNDER HANDLING TRUCK Theinvention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for theUnited States Government for governmental purposes without payment to meof any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a hand truck for supporting a heavyrefrigerant cylinder in any position from right side up to inverted forcontent discharge and for moving the cylinder easily from place toplace, by one man.

An object of the invention is the provision of a cradle frame comprisinga pair of semi-circular shaped tubular bars with straight extensions atits outer ends which constitute the support for the cradle to which thecylinder is fastened, in which the cylinder is maintained right side upand in the inverted position by the straight extensions, and can berocked from one position to the other on the curved base, and is alsoprovided with casters mounted midway on the curved bars and projectingradially beyond the bars to enable the operator to move the cylinder tothe point of discharge while in a horizontal position.

A further object is the provision of means whereby the cylinder issubstantially balanced on the rockers or cradle while it is inhorizontal and inclined positions so as to require a minimum effort totilt the same while it rests on the rockers.

A further object is the provision of supporting means on one of theextensions arranged to support the base of the cylinder thereon, wherebythe cylinder can be tilted and this supporting means inserted under thecylinder without raising the cylinder from the floor or its supportingsurface.

A further object includes a supporting plate spaced from and parallel tothe extension at the other end having a U-shaped slot for receiving theneck of the refrigerant cylinder when it is resting on the-supportingmeans, and clamping means for engagement of the cylinder below the neckfor securing the base of the cylinder on the supporting means.

A further object is the provision of connecting brace means between therockers which is curved to receive and support the cylinder intermediatethe ends of the rockers, and strap means engaging the side of thecylinder to retain the cylinder in said curved brace means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description and accompanying drawings in which likereference characters refer to like parts in the several figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved cylinder handling truckshowing a refrigerant cylinder or bottle secured thereon and in processof being transported by the truck.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the truck with the cylinder shown indotted lines, parts being broken away and shown in section;

Figure 3 is an end View with the refrigerant cylinder removed; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view with the refrigerant bottle omitted.

2,910,304 Patented Oct. 2?, 1959 Referring more particularly to Figures2 to 4, the invention comprises a pair of curved, substantiallysemicircular supporting bars or rails 2 having short parallel extensions3 at one end and much longer parallel extensions 4 at its opposite end.

The opposite ends of the curved rails 2 are connected by parallelcontainer supporting rails 5, and connected intermediate their ends byparallel curved container supporting straps or bars 6 in which, or onwhich, the heavy refrigerant supply bottle 7 is cradled.

The longer parallel extensions 4 are braced to the curved rails 5 bydiagonal braces 8 connected together by a notched out cross plate 9having a U-shaped notch 9 to receive the neck or head 7 of the bottle 7and retain it from material axial shifting.

The short extensions 3 are connected by a cross or bottom plate 10,preferably by welding, to receive and support the bottom of thecontainer 7. The length of the plate 10 beyond the end of the circularportion or rocker member 2 is somewhat less than the diameter of thebottom of the cylindrical container '7 so that when the cradle is tiltedto dispose the short extension 3 next to the ground the cylinder 7 canbe: tilted and the plate inserted under the bottom of the cylinder 7without lifting the heavy cylindrical container 7 off of the ground.

A pair of intermediate parallel braces 11 connect and brace the centersof the supporting rails 5 to the centers of the semi-circular curvedrails 2. These rails 5 are cross-braced by brace members 5 and carrycasters or rollers 12 at their lower ends, projecting slightly below thearc of the curved rails 2. The casters 12 are preferably on stub axlesprojecting laterally from the sides of the rockers 12 as shown moreclearly in Figures 3 and 4.

A plurality of jack screw members are threaded through the head plate 9,surrounding the base and sides of the notched out portion 9 of the headplate 9.

When the container 7 is supported on the curved supporting straps orbars 6, with its bottom in resting engagement with the bottom plate 10and the neck portion of the container seated in the U-shaped notch 9 thejack screw members 13 can be tightened against the top of the container7 below its neck to seat the container 7 firmly on the bottom plate 10and prevent any axial or longitudinal movement of the container as thecradle is tilted to incline the head or discharge end of the refrigerantcontainer 7 downwardly, as shown partly so inclined in Figure 1.

In order to secure the refrigerant cylinder in place on the curvedsupporting straps 6 against lateral displacement a suitable heavyretainer strap 14 is provided which is tightened over the containerbetween the side rails 5.

The refrigerant container 7 is so mounted that its center of gravity isslightly above the top straight rails 5 as shown in Figure 1 so thatwhen the truck or carrier is rocked to dispose the short extension downnext to the ground the container will remain in the upright positionwith one edge of the bottom in engagement with the ground.

Depression of the handle 4, which is formed by a bar connecting theouter ends of the longer extensions 4 together, rocks the cradle on thecurved supporting rails 2 until the casters 12 engage the ground.Further depression substantially balances the cradle and refrigeratorbottle on the casters 12 so that it can be easily moved to its place ofdispensing, or returned to storage.

Further depression of the handle 4 tilts the head of the refrigerationcontainer or bottle 7 downwardly and again disposes the curvedsupporting rails 2 on the ground or supporting surface.

The container can be thus tilted easily on the curved supporting rails 2up to a vertical inverted position where the longer extensions 4 andhandle engage the ground. In this position the slight overbalance willtend to retain the container in this inverted position, the container 7being prevented from shifting by the three jack screws 13 with thedischarge end of the container 7 spaced from the ground in this invertedposition. The end closure 7 can be removed in this or any intermediateposition for dispensing the refrigerant content to any desiredrefrigeration apparatus or location (not shown).

The slightly off center location of the container directly over thecenters of the longer parallel extensions 4 permit the container andcarrier to stand in this position while the content of the container isbeing emptied, and the container does not have to be lifted manually inor during any of the above operations. Also the same is fully portablefrom place to place on the casters 12;

Removal of the container is also convenient and easy. The carrier isrocked to dispose the shorter extensions 3 (and plate on the ground),after which the jack screws are loosened and the strap 14 released. Thecontainer can now be tilted slightly to remove the Weight thereof off ofthe plate 10, and the carrier or truck (which is light in weight) can heslid to pull the plate 10 out from under the bottle 7 and the bottle 7allowed to tilt back on its bottom. As before mentioned a reversal ofthis process is necessary to again reload the truck with a freshrefrigerant bottle.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. A refrigerant bottle supporting and tilting rocker frame forsupporting a necked refrigerant bottle completely between the ends ofthe rocker frame in upright and inverted positions comprising, a pair ofsemicircular rockers disposed in spaced side by side parallel relation,a pair of straight parallel extensions projecting from the rockers atone of the ends thereof tangent to the rockers at said ends, arefrigerant bottle supporting plate extending between said extensionsfrom said ends of the rockers having a width less than half the diameterof the bottom of the necked refrigerant bottle to be supported, a secondpair of straight parallel rocker supporting extensions projecting fromthe opposite ends of the semicircular rockers tangent to the rockers atsaid opposite ends, a handle bar connecting the outer end of said secondpair of parallel rocker supporting extensions together, a pair ofparallel brace bars connecting the opposite ends of the semicircularrockers together, curved refrigerant bottle supporting bars connectingsaid parallel brace bars together at spaced points intermediate theopposite ends of the rockers, a pair of inclined spaced parallel bracebars connecting the outer ends of said second pair of parallelextensions to said parallel brace bars at substantially mid points inthe lengths of said parallel brace bars, a bottle retainer plate fixedto said parallel brace bars and said inclined brace bars intermediatethe ends of the inclined brace bars and parallel to said rockerextensions, said bottle retainer plate having a bottle neck receivingopening formed therein opening outwardly away from said rockers toreceive only the neck of the refrigerant bottle when the same isdisposed with its bottom in contact with said bottle supporting plate,and means carried by said retainer plate for impinging engagement withthe neck of the refrigerant bottle for fixing the bottle on said rockerframe with its bottom in firm contact with said supporting plate whensaid rocker frame is tilted to invert the refrigerant bottle.

2. A refrigerant bottle supporting and tilting rocker frame forsupporting a necked refrigerant bottle completely between the ends ofthe rocker frame in upright and inverted positions comprising, a pair ofsemicircular rockers disposed in spaced side by side parallel relation,a pair of straight parallel extensions projecting from the rockers atone of the ends thereof tangent to the rockers at said ends, arefrigerant bottle supporting plate extending between said extensionsfrom said ends of the rockers having a width less than half the diameterof the bottom of the necked refrigerant bottle to be supported, a secondpair of straight parallel rocker supporting extensions projecting fromthe opposite ends of the semicircular rockers tangent to the rockers atsaid opposite ends, a handle bar connecting the outer end of said secondpair of parallel rocker supporting extensions together, a pair ofparallel brace bars connecting the opposite ends of the semicircularrockers together, curved refrigerant bottle supporting bars connectingsaid parallel brace bars together at spaced points intermediate theopposite ends of the rockers, a pair ofinclined spaced parallel bracebars connecting the outer ends of said second pair of parallelextensions to said parallel brace bars at substantially mid points inthe lengths of said parallel brace bars, a pair of spaced parallelrollers journalled on said rockers substantially midway between the endsthereof with the peripheries thereof projecting radially beyond theouter radius of curvature of said rockers to support the rockers thereonwhen said rockers are positioned to dispose said rollers in contact witha supporting surface, a bottle retainer plate fixed to said parallelbrace bars and said inclined brace bars intermediate the ends of theinclined brace bars and parallel to said rocker extensions, said bottleretainer plate having a bottle neck receiving opening formed thereinopening outwardly away from said rockers to receive only the neck of therefrigerant bottle when the same is disposed with its bottom in contactwith said bottle supporting plate, and means carried by said retainerplate for impinging engagement with the neck of the refrigerant bottlefor fixing the bottle on said rocker frame with its bottom in firmcontact with said supporting plate when said rocker frame is tilted toinvert the refrigerant bottle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

